Hi and welcome to Kenny Sahr's website, Sahr.com! For many of you, I'm the founder of School Sucks.com. To others, I wrote the travel guide that helped you in Jordan. I'm also a music collector - from classic rock to world music, I can't be without music. I'm lucky to have lived in some amazing cities - Miami, Houston, Ramat Gan, Jerusalem and Eilat. I spent much of my 20's at beaches and participated in a few fun scenes - in the real world and online. I was 24 when I founded School Sucks and I'm 37 now.

My first online experience was in '83 with an Atari 1200 XL, a tape drive and a 300 baud modem! The modem was used to call BBS's (Bulletin Board Systems), a precursor to the Internet. There were discussion boards, games, downloads, email messages and more. I knew then that what I was seeing and doing in the BBS world was important. That BBS that I had as a kid evolved into School Sucks a decade later.

Today, its as cool as ever. I spent much of 2006 researching and planning a long trip. Every youth hostel in the world has a website. It was so much fun checking them out - seeing photos and sometimes videoclips! I found budget vacation rentals in the Caribbean that I never dreamed existed. Internet forums also helped - you ask for travel suggestions on Lonely Planet's forums and within minutes start to see replies. That didn't stop me from buying a few Lonely Planet books - without them, I wouldn't have known where to start. Backpackers and travelers never had it so good! In December 2008, we travelled to Georgia, Florida and did a Caribbean cruise. The Internet helped us find condos in Orlando and Panama Beach City as well as a hotel in Atlanta and a week aboard the colorful Carnival Glory. Here's to a good 2009!


December 31, 2008 - What a fun and forward moving year for the two of us! We took it easy in Eilat and went on a trip to Jordan. Petra was stunning and Amman was fun to explore. In the summer, we moved to Arad. We're much closer to the center of the country and these Israeli desert towns have nice homes and townhouses for rent. We're east of Beersheva and its not a long ride down to the Dead Sea. A bus to Tel Aviv takes 2 hours as opposed to 5 hours for Eilat. Arad has everything we need - a mall, wide roads and sidewalks and unbelieveable desert vistas.

In December, the three of us went on a trip to the US. The three of us means my wife, her Mom and I. We spent two days each in Atlanta and Savannah. In Atlanta, we visited the Martin Luther King Museum, CNN and Centennial Park. Savannah impressed us - it really is the most beautiful city in The South. We did the Oglethorpe Trolley Tour and walked up and down the city. Then we drove to Orlando and spent a week in a condo. We went to both Universal parks and Sea World. Universal was great - we happily walked from one area to another. Each park - Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure - are doable in a day with light crowds. Sea World surprised us. We didn't know what to expect and the 5 shows we saw were amazing. We were so busy seeing the shows that we needed another day to experience the rest of Sea World.

And then a week on the Carnival Glory. I love all sorts of travel and cruises are one of them. From the moment you board the ship, you're in another world. The rooms on Carnival *are* bigger as they say they are. We ate at the Red Sail Restaurant and the Platinum Dining Room. There was 24 hour pizza and ice cream, a barbeque for lunch, a generous buffet breakfast and even breakfast in bed. We spent time at the pools, jacuzzi, played ping ping and 9 holes of miniature golf. Indoors, there was The Atrium - a pianist or jazz band playing music in front of glass elevators and 3 floors of bars, shopping and photos.

We spent a day in Cozumel, Belize, Costa Maya and Nassau. In Cozumel we walked to the market of San Miguel and ate lunch at a local restaurant. We wanted to get far from the cruise port and see the real city. It was worth it. After lunch, we headed to Paradise Beach and had a relaxing afternoon. In Belize, we drove to the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins. It was a good but easy walk. Altun Ha is perfect for cruisers - all of the ruins are around a field. Three quick climbs up stairs got you a view to remember.

Costa Maya was hit by Hurricane Dean in August 2007 (we were in Treasure Beach, Jamaica then). The town is still recovering. We got as far from the ship as we could (southern part of Costa Maya) and visited a few stores. Then an hour on the beach. A pretty beach it was! Nassau, Bahamas was always on my list of Caribbean cities to visit. Nassau is always showing up in movies and in culture. A block from the cruise port is the Parliament. We entered the building of the Lower House of Parliament and visited the library which is where the modest museum is located. We walked to Fort Fincastle and climbed down the Queen's Staircase. We walked through town and were impressed with the architecture. Colonial British buildings with Caribbean colors. Then to the most important part of our day in Nassau - to Arawak Fish Fry. The Fish Fry is a collection of restaurants a short walk (20 minutes) from the cruise port. We had conch fritters and conch salad.

After the cruise, we drove to Panama City Beach and spent three days in the prettiest condo we've been in. It had a lot of space and a perfect view of the beach. We drove up and down the sleepy beach resort (in its off-season), ate at Hungry Howie's Pizza and spent relaxing time in the family room and kitchen. Even in cold weather, the beach was eye candy. We walked up and down the beach until it was time to go. The next day we drove to Atlanta and were home two days later.

I love heading for somewhere new. I had directions from Google in my backpack and we found each place easily. I'd never been to Georgia or the Florida Panhandle. We got a good sense of the scenery and drives in Atlanta, Savannah, Orlando, Port Canaveral, Panama City Beach and back to Atlanta again.

I loved every part of the trip. Family vacations are a must - we become closer by exploring new places together.

We're home 6 days and I'm still tired. That's a common theme in 2007 and 2008 thanks to three trips - I'm Happily Tired. Happy New Year!

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We're more moderate than you think! / Good journalism doesn't mean a cynical worldview



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The future of music / What are bootlegs? / Cd's and Bootlegs

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